Lincoln moves forward on Cannabis Licensing Bylaw

By Tristan Marks
NewsNow

Lincoln is one step closer to enacting a Cannabis Business Licensing regimen.

Council considered the draft by-law at Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting.

Councillors passed a motion to hold a public information centre (PIC) so that residetents and stakeholders could consider the license draft along with the Town’s draft odour nuisance by-law.

Associate director of planning Matt Bruder said with this by-law the “third prong” to Lincoln’s “three-prong strategy” for dealing with cannabis will soon be in place.

This by-law would require businesses apply for a license from a board of municipal appointees for the purposes of cannabis production and cultivation.

Potential producers would have to pay a licensing fee and meet a number of requirements including ‘nuisance abatement’, and be subject to inspections from by-law officers.

Licensees would also be required to renew their license with the licensing board yearly.

Being at the draft stage, councillors noticed a number of areas in the document that needed to be expanded, clarified or included.

Coun. Adam Russell noted that the draft had no schedule of costs, fees or fines.

Director of plannning Kathleen Dale explained that staff still needs feedback from stakeholders and further research before finalizing details like that.

Coun. Mike Mikolic noted that the final by-law should include a clause that ensures landlords are informed if a tenant applies for such a license.

“Last year we had an instance of a greenhouse operation where the landlord had no idea what was going on,” said Mikolic.

“We need to ensure this doesnt happen.”

For enforcement, Bruder explained the Town would utilize Regional Police on an “as-needed basis” and that staff had worked “hand-in-hand” with them in earlier instances.

A single PIC will be held in October for both the license by-law and the odour nuisance by-law which was presented to council in July.